Download Animals in Religion

Animals in Religion
Religion….
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Places animals within a cosmological framework
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Directs people on how to use or interact with animals
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Influences a culture even where not everyone is religious
A religion may have:
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Belief in totemism
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Animals as sacred symbols
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Animals in myth, parable
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Live animals that are held sacred
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Zoomorphic deities
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Animal/food taboos
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Animal sacrifice
Explain the difference between Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic religions
Common assumptions in the West:
Concern for animal welfare signifies a perception of unity between humans and animals, rather
than a hierarchical attitude.
Concern for animal welfare entails having sentimental feelings about animals.
Respect for animals and animal sacrifice are mutually exclusive.
Animals in the Abrahamic Faiths
JUDAISM
Imitatio dei – Imitation of God; aspiring toward holiness, being merciful, etc
Tsa’ar Ba’alei Chayim – Kindness toward animals
Concern for animal welfare
Jewish Scriptures suggest human kinship with animals, animals as subjects, unity
Humans and animals created from same substance
Covenants apply to animals as well as humans
Agency/responsibility of animals (no longer recognized?)
Animals once considered on equal footing with humans?
Garden of Eden story, “dominion” over the beasts
Shechitah – Humane slaughter
A pious, qualified person (shochet) must perform slaughter
Proper instrument (halaf) is sharp, clean, flawless; twice as long as the thickness of the neck
Very quick, specific technique, supposedly painless
Ancient Israelites practiced animal sacrifice
Animals have inherent value
Food taboos – See slideshow
CHRISTIANITY
Jesus Christ – Lamb of God
Sacrifice no longer relevant according to most Christians
“God put the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left.”
Middle Ages – Animals used in parable, fable, metaphor, satire
Animals as symbols of heretics, especially wolves, foxes, cats
Concept of evil animals; animals associated with the devil, witchcraft
Symbols of the Four Evangelists:
Matthew – Human/angel, occasionally a rooster
Mark – Lion
Luke – Bull
John – Eagle
St. Augustine (354-430 AD) refuted kinship/unity with animals, declared their purpose for human use
Influenced by Aristotle
Question over whether animals have souls
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 AD)
Only the rational (human) soul is immortal; the animal soul is corruptible/mortal
Animals will never know God
It is okay to use, harm, kill animals
Secular counterpart: Rene Descartes
Food taboos are more or less absent
No equivalent of schechitah or kosher
See slideshow
St. Francis (1181-1226 AD) – Patron Saint of animals
Rise of ecological theologies, Christian environmentalism
Something interesting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwBVcsWYJd8
ISLAM
Islam: Complete submission to God
Hierarchy exists; animals subordinate to humans, some species created for human use
But earth is “assigned to all creatures”
Animals have souls (nafs), to be resurrected by God
Some animals are higher and some are lower
Only humans possess volition (taqwa) and re responsible for their own actions
Animals praise God in their own language.
Animals have communities. All communities have prophets. Do animals have prophets?
God values kindness to animals, punishes cruelty
Dhabihah = Halal ritual slaughter, similar to Shechitah
Food taboos – See slideshow
Eid al-Adha: Festival of Sacrifice
Legal tradition accounts for animal welfare
Animals used in Medieval parable and poetry, especially birds; Conference of the Birds
The Case of the Animals Versus Man – 10th Century
Historical preference for cats over dogs?
Modern Muslim animal welfare movement, vegetarian movement
Controversy over the status of dogs
BUDDHISM
Buddha: Siddhartha Gautama lived in India around 500 BCE.
Religion not based on gods; universe not controlled by divine agents
Monasticism is prominent
Ahimsa: Non-injury, non-violence
Vegetarianism is encouraged
Open denunciation of animal sacrifice
All souls are inherently equal and immortal
Reincarnation – a soul can be reborn as a human or an animal; also supernatural beings
Karma (action) determines one’s next incarnation
Human form is superior to animal form; rebirth as an animal signifies bad karma
Animals thought to be plagued by suffering that exceeds’ humans’
Animals live in a state of perpetual insecurity, spiritual immaturity
Unable to participate in formal religion
Animals are sentient; behavior judged in anthropocentric moral terms
Many stories involve animals, typically anthropomorphized
Buddha said to have lived many past lives as animals, including monkeys and elephants
Kindness toward animals strongly encouraged
Intentional abuse/killing of animals is condemned
Abuse of larger animals is a worse than abuse of smaller animals
Abuse of humans is worse than abuse of animals
Ashoka: Buddhist emperor of India 268-232 BCE
Enacted many animal welfare laws; outlawed animal sacrifice, outlawed hunting
Still permitted slaughter of cattle and other livestock for meat
No veneration of animals directly, unlike Hinduism
Strong nature/culture and animal/religion divide
Monks may not recite monastic rules in front of animals, or imitate animals
Buddhist environmentalist movements exist, but animal welfare movements are less common
Humans considered more important
Enlightenment ultimately requires abandonment of earthly attachments
HINDUISM
About 80% of Indians are Hindu.
Amalgamation of many local folk traditions, plus Vedic teachings
A cultural identity, extremely diverse; not mutually exclusive to other religions
Monasticism is less important but ascetics exist
Theological, polytheist
Ahimsa: Non-injury, non-violence
Vegetarianism widespread, seemingly borrowed from Buddhism
Animal sacrifice commonplace prior to ahimsa doctrine; very rare in modern times
All beings have souls/Self (atman); all souls are equal and immortal.
Animals sentient, anthropomorphized, responsible for own actions.
Reincarnation – atman can be reincarnated as human or animal
Determined by karma (action); similar principle as Buddhism
Only humans have access to sruti – divine revelation
Only humans have access to dharma – sacred duty/correct ritual behavior
Only humans (and only certain humans) have access to moksha – spiritual liberation
Some exceptions are known in literature.
Cows considered highly favorable; carnivores generally unfavorable, especially dogs
Ancient folk traditions revere certain animals
Sacred animals: Monkeys, cows, elephants, cobras, etc.
Monkey temple: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjqDvRI2-P0
Rat temple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwgMEeNOZ-E
Hanuman, vanara; other myths
Ganesha has an elephant’s head
Vahanas of the gods
Sacred cows, beef taboo: See slideshow
Beef in India: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/selling-the-sacred-cow-indiascontentious-beef-industry/385359/
Sankranti festival has a day honoring animals, especially cows
Animal welfare and animal rights activists in India, Cow Protection Movement, sacredness debate
2013: India bans captive dolphin shows
JAINISM
Originated in the same time and part of the world as Buddhism and Hinduism
No gods, only holy gurus called Tirthankara
Monasticism is important to the religion
Each of the 24 Tirthankaras is represented by a symbol, most of which are animals
All living beings have souls, all souls are equal.
Animals are sentient, rational, have moral agency.
Reincarnation, karma, similar to Buddhism and Hinduism
Animals are capable of becoming enlightened
Five basic principles of Jainism:
Ahimsa – Non-violence, non-injury
Aparigraha – Non-possession
Asteya – Non-stealing
Brahmacharya – Sexual Self-restraint
Satya – Truthfulness
Vegetarianism mandated
Veganism preferred
Food taboos extend to certain vegetables
Animal sacrifice is forbidden
Animals are not sentimentalized.
Jains generally do not keep pets.
Senses of life forms:
Five senses: All vertebrates
Four senses (non-hearing): Flying insects, scorpions
Three senses: Burrowing insects, centipedes
Two senses (touch and taste only): Worms, leeches, mollusks
One sense (touch only): Plants, elemental beings
All animals deserve to be treated with respect.
Even killing a bug is bad karma.
Even plants can suffer!
Animal welfare is very important.
Protection of animals is good karma, highly encouraged.
Pinjrapole – Jaina animal hospital/shelter
Goshala – Cow shelter
Euthanasia is not practiced or permitted.
Natural death, even by starvation, is allowed.
DAOISM
A Chinese spiritual philosophy
Non-theist, pantheistic, compatible with folk religions, ancestor worship
Founded by the philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu)
Dao: A highly abstract concept; the flow of the universe, not translatable to English
“Animals” not a singular category
Traditional belief in mythical creatures, including dragons, phoenixes, qilin “unicorns”
Sacred animals: Mythical creatures are the most spiritually powerful
Other sacred animals include cranes, tortoises
Not a sharp divide between nature and the human world
Naturalism is a virtue. Wu-wei: acting without need for deliberation
Human-animal transformation appears frequently in literature
Unlike Buddhism, there is no shame in people comparing themselves to animals, imitating animals
Glorification of the free lives of wild animals (anti-authoritarianism)
Guanzi text implies moral superiority of humans in having segregation of the sexes
Animals have their own Dao
Nature should not be interrupted unnecessarily, forced against its nature
Daoism is an emotionally-detached, non-sentimentalist worldview
Compassion in general is valued, but animal welfare is of little concern
Death is an accepted fact
Meat-eating is considered a natural process, entirely permissible
Animal sacrifice common in Chinese folk religions, permissible under Daoism
Food animals sacrificed, as well as tortoises
Daoism significantly less animal-focused than Asian shamanic folk religions
Protocols surrounding hunting, animal sacrifice, not specified in Daoist texts
Many animals hunted for medicinal components, even endangered species